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Happy Serendipity Day! Here’s my annual Serendipity Day post to celebrate the magic of this auspicious day with you. Yay for soul mates, positive energy, and following your heart.

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Today is Serendipity Day, aka Serendipity Do Da, aka Do Da Day.

You probably want an explanation.

If you didn’t see the movie Serendipity, then not to be bossy? But you really need to go ahead and do that. It’s all about fate and destiny and positive energy and has some amazing New York City scenes. Even if you did see it, you probably didn’t pick up on the fact that Jonathan and Sara meet on December 20. I’m obsessive about those sorts of details, so I totally did. Then I immediately made a note that December 20 will always and forever be known as Serendipity Day.

When they meet, Jonathan and Sara are in Bloomingdale’s trying to grab the same pair of gloves. You know how sometimes you meet someone and there’s this instant intense connection? That’s what happens to them. So of course they can’t just go their separate ways. They have to go to Serendipity 3 (which is only a few blocks away – love the accuracy) for frozen hot chocolates. And then they go ice skating in Central Park. It’s one of those magical New York nights, filled with excitement and possibility.

But then.

When Jonathan writes down his number for Sara, the wind blows it away. She thinks it’s a sign that they’re not meant to be together. Or at least, not right now. She’s all about fate and destiny. So she makes him write his name and number on the back of a five-dollar bill, which she immediately uses to buy mints. Sara’s idea is that if the five-dollar bill makes its way back to her, then they’re meant to be together.

Good, right?

If you’ve read Something Like Fate, you can understand why I love this movie. I love it so much that my friend Joe and I used to celebrate Serendipity Day by reenacting the original Serendipity Day’s events. First, we put our names in at Serendipity. There’s usually a three-hour wait for a table around the holidays. I am not exaggerating. Serendipity is a gorgeous winter wonderland right now, all sparkly lights and trees and tinsel. Everyone wants in. But it was perfect because we needed those three hours to reenact scenes from the movie. We would head over to Bloomingdale’s, where we both grabbed a pair of gloves at the same glove counter. That counter doesn’t have gloves anymore so we had to bring the gloves over from the gloves section, but it still counted. Then it was off to Wollman Rink in Central Park. It was always the Coldest Night Ever when we did this. I don’t know how to ice skate, so we would kind of just stand there and watch the glittery skyline and send positive energy out into the Universe.

Then it was frozen hot chocolate time! In the movie, Jonathan and Sara get red and blue straws in theirs. But we always got regular straws. So I asked about the red and blue ones and found out that they don’t have those anymore. Which is fine because those frozen hot chocolates are the best in the world, regardless of straw color. If Joe and I were at a point in our lives where we were single, we would each take out a five-dollar bill and write our name and number on the back (in red pen for accuracy). Then we’d give them to the waiter as part of his tip. Not that anyone ever called us. But that’s not the point. The point is that we put positive energy out there. We took action to create more possibility for finding true love. New York City is magic. This city makes magical things happen.

So. How can you celebrate Do Da Day if you’re not here in New York? Well, if you’re already with your soul mate, you can make frozen hot chocolates and call it a day. But if you are still searching, send positive energy out into the Universe today. Take some time to write down your goals. Visualize what you want your love life to be like. Then make a plan to take steps every day towards finding your person. All of these things will help you get closer to turning your big dream into reality.

Oh, and PS? Serendipity is also home of the $1,000 Golden Opulence Sundae, served in a Baccarat crystal goblet (which you get to take home), made with the world’s most expensive chocolate, and covered in 23K edible gold leaf. Just in case you weren’t sure what to order.

There are so many spectacular look up moments to have in New York City I can’t even remember all the ones I’ve had in my nearly 19 years here. Or even most of them. Research shows that we tend to remember the experiences we have alone more vividly than experiences we have with other people. A lot of my look up moments have happened alone. They are burned into my brain like a kind of creative fuel I run on. But I had a recent look up moment with someone that I want to share with you.

We were walking around the East Village on a spontaneous cookie crawl. We hit up DeRobertis (good thing since it tragically closed a few weeks later after 110 years) (and don’t even get me started on Bruno closing after 40 years) (and Gobo closing! How can my favorite vegetarian restaurant be closed?!), Veniero’s, and Insomnia Cookies. Skittering around on a sugar high, I looked up and saw this:

The old-school etching above the doorways said Free Public Baths of the City of New York. The building was massive. What was it now? Upon further inspection at the open gated entrance, we discovered the building is now an upscale photography studio. But what did it used to be? We researched and found out something really cool. There was a whole public bath movement in New York City back in the 1840s. People who lived in the old East Village tenements didn’t have access to bathtubs or showers in their apartments. They came to the Free Public Baths, which had seven bathtubs and 94 showers. After bathrooms became standard in apartment buildings, the Free Public Baths closed in 1958. Then it was used as a garage/warehouse until 1995, when it became the photography studio it is today.

How fascinating is that? I never even knew about the public bath movement. And I probably never would have discovered this important part of New York’s history if I hadn’t looked up as we walked by.

In a city where old-school institutions are closing due to skyrocketing outrageous rents, it’s reassuring to look up and see that the historical flavor of New York City is still all around. I will continue to look up…and learn way more about my city love.

I’ve been gathering examples of people spreading the #citylove in their communities. Some of these spectacular images will be posted on the shiny new City Love Instagram. Have you entered this month’s City Love giveaway yet? The first 500 citylovetrilogy followers on Instagram will be automatically entered to win an advance copy. Five advance copies are up for grabs! And yes, this giveaway is international!

Acts of kindness via notes are adorable. They’re like these little treasures scattered around the city just waiting for you to find them. You feel so special when you come across notes like this:

Have you seen examples of people spreading the #citylove in your city or town? Are you spreading the #citylove yourself? Please share! Show your #citylove by posting your images with the #citylove hashtag. I’ll be sharing some of them on my Instagram, Tumblr, Twitter, and Facebook.

What do you have? A bunch of chances to win them over the next four months leading up to the April 21 pub date.

Starting right now! City Love has a shiny new Instagram. All you have to do to enter this giveaway is follow citylovetrilogy on Instagram. The first 500 followers will be automatically entered to win a total of five advance copies. Could this first giveaway be any easier to enter? No, it could not be. And check it: This giveaway is international!

You might be wondering what’s going to happen on my Instagram. City Love is a trilogy, so there will be lots of action over the next three years. We’re doing a City Love social campaign on Instagram, Twitter, and Tumblr that focuses on showing your #citylove with acts of kindness and sharing the amazing things you notice when you #lookup. Did you see this behind-the-scenes video of the City Love cover shoot my publisher posted with the cover reveal? Now you know what “show your #citylove” means!

The tagline of City Love is: Look up. Anything is possible. There is so much beauty to notice when you look up. So many possibilities when you spread the city love. So many opportunities to make the world a better place…starting right in your own city or town. We want to see your examples of spreading the #citylove with acts of kindness. They can either be sweet things you’re doing in your community or sweet things others are doing in theirs. We want to see you show your #citylove by documenting the amazing things you notice when you #lookup. I will be sharing some of your images on my Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr, and Facebook.

2. The first 500 followers will be automatically entered to win one of five City Love advance copies.

Giveaway rules:

1. The giveaway will run until citylovetrilogy’s Instagram has 500 followers or on the date of December 29, 2014, whichever comes first.

2. Five winners will be announced on citylovetrilogy’s Instagram on December 30, 2014. Each winner will then have until January 6, 2015 to email me their full name and mailing address. My email is susanecolasanti at gmail.

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City Love ARCs are in the house! You know what that means. Giveaways will be coming your way for you to win ARCs on my Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and right here on my blog. I’ll be running giveaways every month leading up to the April 21 pub date. A total of 30 ARCs will be up for grabs. Oh yeah. It’s on.

And dude. The hardcover jacket is so shiny! With metallic highlights and everything! There’s also a big surprise with the hardcover that I cannot give away right now. Something very special I’ve only seen on a few books ever. Can’t wait for the big reveal.